NASA Juno project engineer speaks to students

Drain’s talk had the students eagerly asking questions about space and what her job at NASA is like. Photo by Kacey Ginn

By

Kacey Ginn

Fifth graders in the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows district enjoyed a special presentation Friday when Tracy Drain, Deputy Chief Engineer for NASA’s Juno project, visited the school.

Drain is the aunt of C-G-D students Natalie and Alex Greving. She was visiting the family for Thanksgiving and was able to stop in to talk to the students about what it’s like to work for NASA. She also presented to Alex’s seventh-grade class on Thursday.

Her favorite part about working with NASA, Drain said, was how scientists discover new things about space all the time. The Juno spacecraft has helped them observe new things about Jupiter, such as how the storms on the planet’s surface alternate between hot and cool.

“We get to learn new things all the time,” she said. “That’s my favorite part about working at NASA—a chance to learn cool stuff.”

For students, it was a chance to see just how exciting learning can be—and maybe a way to see how amazing possibilities aren’t as far away as they seem.